Water in the center of FAO’s sustainable development efforts

At the invitation of the Economic and Social Committee (EESC), FAO’s Land and Division Director LI Lifeng participated at a high-level hearing led by the EESC Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) with the title “Time of a Blue Deal”.
Lifeng presented the main priorities of the Organization on water issues and emphasized the need for innovative solutions such as remote sensing for data-driven decisions as, as he highlighted, “climate change and population growth will put an unseen pressure on water resources”.

Christa Schweng, EESC President, Pernilla Weiss, MEP and Chair of the European Parliament Water Group, and Deputy Director-General from Joint Research Centre (JRC) Salla Saastamoinen and other representatives and experts from civil society and industry were among the speakers.

Before the start of the session, Li met with the Chair of the Natural Resources Section of the EESC, Peter Schmidt, along with the Rapporteur of the EESC opinion on water scarcity and climate emergency and solutions for the EU agri-food system, Josep Puxeu He briefed the meeting on FAO’s ongoing work to assess irrigation needs globally and on the current political outreach of the Global Framework for Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WSAg), launched during COP22 in Marrakesh.

As part of the two-day visit, Li also exchanged on FAO’s overall portfolio on water with representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-Generals for Agriculture and for International Partnerships, met with UNEP’s Brussels Office Director Veronika Hunt Šafránková, and with the Chair of the Council Working Party on International Food and Agriculture Questions (AGRIFAO) under the Swedish Presidency, Marika Milivojevic.

FAO works to promote coherent approaches to sustainable land and water management.
FAO's work in land and water is relevant to several dimensions of sustainable development, such as the governance and management of food production systems; the provision of essential ecosystem services; food security; human health; biodiversity conservation; and the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. FAO supports programs that improve the governance of water for more efficient, transparent and equitable use of water for agriculture. It addresses competition for water between sectors through the water-food-energy nexus approach, building upon multi-sectoral policy dialogue and conflict resolution work.
Find out more about the Organization’s work on Land & Water issues here.